assassination

[uh-sas-uh-ney-shuhn]

noun

1. the premeditated act of killing someone suddenly or secretively, especially a prominent person.

   The meticulous way in which the journalist's assassination was carried out has led to suspicions that his killers were professionals working for state security.

2. the act of destroying or harming treacherously and viciously.

   They went after me with everything they had, engaging in character assassination and in destroying my reputation—a complete fabrication and frame-up.

Other Word Forms

• counterassassination noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of assassination¹

assassin(ate) ( def. ) + -ation ( def. )

Example Sentences

In addition to disarmament, Washington is also demanding that Beirut dry up the group's funding from Iran, which slammed Sunday's "cowardly" assassination.

Read more on Barron's

Reporters put that question to some very old Americans on the day of JFK’s assassination.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The CIA concluded that the assassination was carried out by Saudi operatives, on order of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

May Sun stood on Wilshire Boulevard in Koreatown on Tuesday morning, looking through the fence at the memorial she and another artist designed to honor Robert F. Kennedy near the site of his 1968 assassination.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Since the assassination attempt, Republicans have accused the FBI of withholding information about the investigation.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• bloodshed 
• crime 
• destruction 
• felony 
• homicide 
• lynching www.thesaurus.com
• manslaughter 
• massacre 
• shooting www.thesaurus.com
• slaying www.thesaurus.com
• terrorism